Carthage Historic Preservation schedules membership day

Carthage Historic Preservation is in a race against time, and they’re looking for new members to help them run this never-ending race.

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By Staff reports

The Carthage Press

By Staff reports

Posted May. 2, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 24, 2012 at 7:40 PM

By Staff reports

Posted May. 2, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jul 24, 2012 at 7:40 PM

CARTHAGE, Mo.

Carthage Historic Preservation is in a race against time, and they’re looking for new members to help them run this never-ending race.

The group that was incorporated in 1979 to work to save the historic homes in Carthage is holding its annual CHP Membership Day from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, May 8, at the historic Phelps House, 1146 Grand in Carthage.

The Historic Preservation Board is planning a Kentucky Derby-themed event, featuring 1895-style games, croquet and bocce on the lawn, checkers and Parcheesi on the porch, a maypole and admiring those who choose to wear Derby-style attire and hats.

The group says May is Historic Preservation Month, and Carthage Historic Preservation is in a “race that never ends.”

“Carthage was founded in the 1840s, burned during the Civil War Battle of Carthage, and rebuilt during the lead- and zinc-mining boom of the 1880s and 1890s,” the group said in a written release. “The cornerstone of the present Carthage Jasper County Courthouse, the most photographed courthouse in Missouri, was laid in 1894 and completed in 1895. The clubhouse and twin spires at Churchill Downs (where the Kentucky Derby is run) and the Historic Phelps House were both built in 1895. Carthage has so much history to be celebrated and preserved. But historic preservation is a race that never ends, a race against time and indifference.”

Brunch, featuring smoked ham, angel biscuits, baked French toast, fruit, juice and coffee, will be served from 10 a.m.-noon.

Memberships are $30 for an individual, $50 for a family, $100 for an associate and $150 for a contributing member.